Ahmed Khan Malik

Sindh’s industrial sector has expressed grave concern over the fall in cotton production, which will have serious implications for the textile sector as well as the national economy, reports WealthPK.

Cotton production in Pakistan has seen a sharp decline, with total arrivals down 36.84 percent year-over-year. The arrivals in the ginning factories totaled 4,291,105 bales – a stark drop from the last year’s 6,794,006 bales.

Punjab recorded a decrease of 38.53 percent in output, with 1,842,257 bales produced compared to 2,996,921 bales last year. Sindh saw a reduction of 35.51 percent, producing 2,448,848 bales, down from 3,797,085 bales in 2023. Balochistan’s production, meanwhile, stands at 131,800 bales.

The decline in production has been attributed to a combination of adverse weather, pest attacks, and inadequate research funding. “The decline in cotton production is a serious concern,” Fazal Masood, a textile industrialist in the SITE Area of Karachi, told WealthPK. He urged the government to provide subsidies, improve seed quality, and ensure the adoption of modern agricultural practices to boost cotton production in order to meet the growing demand of the industry.

Urging the government to take immediate measures to enhance cotton production, he emphasized that cotton was the backbone of Pakistan’s textile industry and a critical component of the national economy. He highlighted the importance of collaboration among the policymakers, the farmers, and the textile sector to address challenges such as climate change, water shortages, and pest control.

“Increasing cotton production is not only vital for the textile sector but also for the livelihoods of millions of farmers, who depend on it,” he added. He impressed upon the government to prioritize the issue and implement long-term policies to ensure sustainable growth in cotton production, ultimately strengthening the country’s economy.

In light of the decline in cotton production, Pakistan is expected to import over 5 million bales this year, costing $2 billion. “This shortfall poses a significant challenge to Pakistan’s textile industry, which plays a crucial role in the country’s economy,” Nadir Saeed, a garment industrialist in the F.B. Area of Industry in Karachi, told WealthPK.  He said Pakistan’s economy was fragile, and only industrial production could support it through enhanced production and export of surplus quantity. 

However, he noted that the ground situation was grim, as the industrial production had been falling due to a host of reasons and cotton production shortfall was one of them. The F.B. Area industrialist said the large manufacturing sector’s figures showed that its production had recorded a negative growth of almost four percent and the textile sector had also contributed to this negative growth.

He believed that Pakistan was a dollar-deficient country and import of cotton to meet the local textile sector’s needs would cost the country precious foreign exchange as well as the sector in the form of expensive cotton. “This situation will lead to an uneven playing field for the textile exports in the global market,” he noted with concern.

Credit: INP-WealthPk